Which presidential candidate scares NJ the most?

When it comes to this year’s Presidential candidates, a just released Rutgers-Eagleton survey finds a majority of New Jersey voters have strong negative feelings about one candidate in particular.

“Donald Trump is the 2016 candidate that made New Jersey voters feel the most angry and the most feared,” said Ashley Koning, the assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling.

She said when we talk about “Trump and Cruz on the Republican side, or when we talk about Clinton or Sanders on the Democratic side, Trump provokes the most fear, the most contempt and the most anger from voters across the board."

It's not quite the same result New Jersey 101.5 found with its much less rigorous Twitter poll, which as of Monday evening showed participating New Jerseyans most afraid of a Hillary Clinton administration:

The Rutgers-Eagleton poll finds 61 percent of New Jersey voters say that Trump has made them feel angry at some point, either because of the person he is, or because of something he has done. Of those polled, 57 percent say that Trump has made them feel afraid, and 45 percent say that Trump has made them feel some sort of contempt.

Koning added Trump provokes these feelings mostly from Democrats as well as independent voters, a key voting block when it will come to the general election.

She said “the poll also finds 30 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, either for his policies, the fact that he’s an outsider or because he’s a good businessman, while 62 percent feel unfavorable about Trump.” Within that group, “31 percent say something about Trump’s character, style or attitude, another 11 percent say something about his policy positions and beliefs, and 9 percent actually say it’s because they perceive Donald Trump to be a racist, with another 7 percent saying he is just too outspoken, and that’s why they feel unfavorable towards him.”

The poll also finds 55 percent of New Jersey voters believe Donald Trump does go too far in the statements he makes, but another 31 percent say that he’s saying out loud what other people are already thinking.

Koning added Ted Cruz barely registers among New Jersey voters when it comes to positive or negative emotions, and 48 percent of voters say Hillary Clinton has, at one point, made them feel angry, while 53 percent of voters say at some point Bernie Sanders made them feel hopeful.